11 Dec 2020
Adelaide in South Australia will host Accenture’s latest Australian Delivery Hub, which will focus on defence, cyber security, intelligent operations and advanced technologies.
Known as the defence state, South Australia is considered the centre of Australia’s maritime, land, aerospace and space industries. Its capital city Adelaide has transformed from an elegant city of churches into a buzzing metropolis that is home to global defence companies, leading cyber security firms, ambitious startups and government defence agencies.
Fittingly, Adelaide is home to Accenture’s latest Hub. The global professional services firm will focus on building Australia’s capability in national security, cyber security and advanced technologies. The hub is expected to create 2,000 highly skilled jobs over five years and contribute up to $1 billion to Australia’s economy over the next 10 years.
Bob Easton, Chairman of Accenture Australia and New Zealand, says Adelaide is home to a high-quality labour force, committed business community and a government that embraces new opportunities.
‘This makes South Australia an ideal location for Accenture’s latest hub and a new collaborative approach to business and technology being led by the South Australian Government,’ he says.
A sound business location
Accenture has been helping clients in Australia transform for more than 40 years. Today the global professional services firm employs around 5,000 staff in six Australian cities. In addition to servicing local clients, Accenture’s Australian offices support clients around the world and are a significant contributor to the latest thinking, innovation and technologies Accenture provides clients.
Mostly recently Accenture rolled out the myWizard platform globally, which was developed in Australia. The platform enables organisations to improve user experiences by more than 50%, reduce IT operational costs by up to 60% and get new products and services to market up to 8 times more quickly.
A city of opportunity
Accenture was keen to set up its latest Australian Delivery Hub in Adelaide. The city is home to defence primes, cyber security firms and high-tech companies from Australia and overseas. It is where the bulk of the nation’s defence-related systems and cyber security work is undertaken. Its technology precincts are a hive of activity as startups, businesses, government and academia collaborate on innovation projects.
‘A base in Adelaide not only gives us access to government and industry work, it brings us closer to the latest in defence and cyber security research that’s being undertaken by the many defence and cyber security organisations, research institutes and educational institutions in the city,’ says Easton.
Accenture intends to employ up to 2,000 people over the next five years to work at the hub, with Adelaide well positioned to provide highly skilled graduates.
‘Adelaide is a great place to live and work, producing strong talent aligned with our priority skills and capabilities,’ says Easton. ‘The city has a progressive government, three world-class universities and a TAFE institute that provides high-quality technical and vocational graduates.’
The Adelaide Hub will collaborate with Accenture hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra. These hubs are connected to more than 100 Accenture innovation hubs and centres around the world, bringing the best of Accenture’s capabilities in advanced technologies, intelligent operations and cyber security to clients across Australia.
COVID-19 creates new opportunities
Accenture had spent 18 months planning the hub and building capability when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
‘COVID-19 didn’t slow us down, but it did sharpen our focus,’ says Easton. ‘The crisis actually accelerated and created a number of new opportunities. Clients are ramping up their deployment of digital services and transformation to deal with the pandemic, so there is increasing demand.
‘As part of this, we have immersed ourselves in the local community and are committed to contributing to the broader ecosystem,’ adds Easton. ‘In addition to our work with not-for-profit organisations, we have a base at the University of South Australia’s Innovation Collaboration Centre and a security apprenticeship with TafeSA.’
Committed to Australia
Accenture has always made a point of investing back in the communities in which it operates. In Australia, the firm has contributed 22,000 hours volunteering for charities and community organisations to date.
Accenture works with the Australian Business Community Network (ABCN) – which connects volunteers from member companies with students from low socio-economic backgrounds to provide fun, workplace-based mentoring programs – to develop its digital strategy and capabilities such as online mentoring. This has increased ABCN’s reach and impact, resulting in 9,000 more students having access to its services.
‘Accenture’s purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity and we are continually looking for organisations and governments such as the South Australian Government who we can partner with to deliver on this promise,’ says Easton.
Find out more about investing in Australia or contact Austrade for more information.